Dick Enberg, Scandinavian heritage and all, never skied until he was 50 years old.

But he still remembers what it was like that first day on the bunny slope, taking lessons alongside the 5- and 6-year-olds, “hanging on to the poles of the ski instructor.”

And he also remembers how, at the end of that day, he skied down the “mountain” on his own.

“And every time I skied,” he said, “I got better. Got a little better, a little better, a little more confident, a little better.”

Enberg, now 75, was telling this story Tuesday evening as a way of explaining how he feels more comfortable with each Padres broadcast on Channel 4 San Diego. He was sitting in his small press-box office at Petco Park less than an hour before his 25th baseball broadcast of the season. It was also his 25th baseball broadcast in the last 25 years.

So if his first month on the job wasn’t always smooth, considering the layoff, it was plenty good, deserving of at least a solid “B” grade. And the trend definitely is positive.

“I really believe putting in the hours builds not only a rhythm and a confidence,” Enberg said, “but a feeling that this is going to be fine.

“I made the right decision; I know that. There’s not been one piece of doubt about that. … I really love being back.”

Sure, Enberg has made mistakes during his 26 Padres telecasts which began April 5 — a few major, most minor slips of the tongue — but he knows better than anyone perfection is too much to hope for, even if he’ll keep trying to find it.

“It’s been 50 years,” Enberg said of his career. “I’m still looking for the first perfect broadcast.”

Which is, pardon the pun, a perfect way for viewers to look at Enberg’s brief tenure as well.

Yes, he’s going to make the occasional mistake, but which broadcaster doesn’t? I would hope most fans would take the attitude that the other 99 percent of each telecast makes up for a goof here and there.

Enberg said he “beat himself up” and was a “miserable son of a gun” a couple weeks ago after miscalling a home run, but his wife said to him, “How about the other 2 1/2 hours, what you’re bringing to the telecast and making it interesting and coloring it the way you do? That counts for something, too. Think about the positive.”

Added Enberg: “Well, that helped a little bit. But I don’t want that to happen.”

From the telecasts I’ve heard recently, it’s happening less, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone. Enberg has been working hard since spring training, and he just needed to get in “game shape,” so to speak. He’s not there yet, but he’s closer. I’ve noticed less and less hesitancy in his calls over the last week or two, which has led to his voice sounding stronger.

“You listen to Jon Miller or Ted (Leitner) or anybody, and they say last week or last month or last year or five years ago. But it’s all up here,” Enberg said, tapping his head. “It’s not something written down; it’s their library. I have to rebuild my whole library.

“I had my library in the ’70s and ’80s. Now all the stadiums are different, the announcers, my crew, the names of all the players. Until I get around the league, I look down and if I don’t see the number, I don’t know the player … his mannerisms. Those are the kinds of things that get you trapped. I’ve just got to put in the time to build that library.”

While he does that, it’s still nice to appreciate the experience, perspective, storytelling and so much more that Enberg offers with each broadcast. He’s worked well with main analyst Mark Grant — “Bless his heart he just can’t do enough to try to help me,” Enberg said — and also Tony Gwynn, who has had four solo telecasts with the legend he listened to as a kid growing up in Long Beach.

“It’s fun,” Gwynn said, before Tuesday’s game. “The first game I did with these guys, we had a three-man booth and … I just forgot what I was supposed to say because I was listening to (Enberg) tell stories. This has been great.”

Enberg hasn’t been shy about asking Gwynn questions about his career or Ted Williams or basically any subject he thinks might be interesting for viewers.

“It’s what I love about my job,” Enberg said. “You sit down, you’re watching a ballgame … and you’re sitting next to a Hall of Famer. How good is that? He’s willing to have you draw that out of him.

“The relationship with both Tony and Mark, for early on, we’re not talking over each other, we’re relating to each other well.

Doing the Derby wrong

It wouldn’t be the week after the Kentucky Derby without some complaints about NBC’s coverage of the race.

Yes, there was a race. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with NBC, which enjoys ratings success with its broad perspective on the Derby but sure doesn’t take care of race fans.

Among my problems with Saturday’s telecast: Almost no analysis of how the race might be run ahead of time or why the rail post position was so difficult (why not have a cameraman stand in the gate for some perspective?); no posting of the 2-3-4 finishers for several minutes (people do bet exactas, trifectas, etc.); no interviews with any losing jockeys or trainers, and a discussion but no video (this is TV, right?) of the significant trouble encountered by the race runner-up.

Come on, this is a major sporting event; treat it like one.

NBC’s crew warmed up for its Saturday mediocrity in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s Kentucky Oaks on Bravo. Two fillies finished inches apart, but instead of NBC showing a slow-motion replay that would have allowed viewers to know immediately which had won, we got no replay at all for more than three minutes. Oh, and don’t forget all this was 3 hours later for non-HD West Coast viewers, who had to watch the Oaks on tape.

How silly of us, expecting a sporting event on an NBC-owned network to be live.